Justice: 1. Justice

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1. Justice

Watch out whom ye seek to seduce: you just might succeed. A semi-humorous takeoff on the story of Hades and Persephone.

JUSTICE

Are you frightened?

I ask him this evenly, quietly.

No reply.

Hair the color of Anor itself cascades around a sinfully fair visage,framing a mocking face.

He looks at me with a smirking arrogance.

Often falsely swollen to considerable size in the illusion of hisbattle glamour, he is not so large anymore. Much smaller than me,only a slender, unusually striking Maia, in very, very deep trouble.

And he does not seem to understand this at all.

Scarlet robed, he relaxes back in the seat, and lets the robe fallopen too much, boldly, obscenely. I see more than I need to of himunder it: a patch of spun gold, immaculate and neat, pulling my gazeto it.

Shuddering with what I tell myself is revulsion, I look away.

"Cover yourself! This is not a tryst!" I tell him, offended andshocked.

He glares at me, with hateful conceit and flaring nostrils, angry atbeing rejected.

He pulls the robe closed again with an extravagantly long-nailedhand. Gestures at me impatiently, as if I am being dismissed.

Indeed, little Maia.

I need to make a point, I suppose.

I lift one hand and gesture near his feet, and there flares upsparks, and smoke, billowing up around him.

The smug smile vanishes, as if it had never been there at all.

"Now." I say cheerfully, "Let us try this again. Are you frightened?"

He shakes his head, stubborn. I am confused. This is the greatdeceiver, the skilled and artful liar?

He is not deceiving me, by any means.

I rise and walk around him, noting that his eyes follow me as I doso, nervously.

He is, in fact, badly frightened, and yet, perversely, stillbelligerent. Afraid I am going to hurt him- but unwilling to evencooperate.

"Speak, now, I am tiring of your games. Have they not warned you, Iwill not toy with you, or waste time with your silence?"

He glares at me, as I circle back around, and stand in front of him.Then sits back in his seat again, regarding me arrogantly, as if I amthe one being penalized, not him.

"What do you expect me to say?"

"Do you even understand what is happening here? You have been triedand found guilty- of treason, mass murder, torture, enslavement…I amsure you know there is more, but those are the worst. It is now myduty to find a suitable punishment- and means of rehabilitation!- tosuit your crimes and nature. Do you understand this?"

He smiles, and replies sarcastically, "Was the Void occupied, then?"

That is enough.

I reach out and grab his slender throat, and I am surprised at my ownwrath as I tell him:

"You little fool! Manwe gave you mercy, and you mock this?"

He loses the courage, then, and shakes his head- I release him, andhe shrinks back from me, silent again.

I struggle to not sink to his level.

"Do you know why you were spared, Sauron?"

He only stares at me.

"You were spared because there is hope for you. You are not utterlymad, as Melkor is- and perhaps has been all along.You are sane. Youare evil, shameless, selfish, vain, and sadistic- but you are sane.There might be hope."

I wait, hoping this may sink in.

But he merely looks at me.

Then, he speaks again, more quietly, less abrasive.

"I understand."

Shocked at this change, I calm considerably.

"Very well, then. Let us begin."

With a sigh, I sit down again, and regard him.

"There will have to be a measure of punishment, from the sheergravity and magnitude of your crimes. You are directly, andindirectly, responsible for the deaths of millions of beings, Men,Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, even! The weight upon your shoulders ought tobe vast, but you would have to feel a sense of guilt. I do notbelieve you- have a conscience- as such."

"A conscience?"

"A sense of right or wrong. The unhappiness that comes from havingdone wrong- and the awareness to not do it in the first place."

He frowns, and then shakes his head.

"Is this going anywhere, Námo?"

I grit my teeth so hard they crunch, and with a tremendous effort Irestrain myself.

"Sauron."

"What?"

"If you do not change your attitude, I shall take you personally andhang you upside down, and you can stay that way for –oh, an Age oughtto get your attention."

He pales dramatically, and retorts foolishly- but not rudely:

"You would not do that to me, Námo! You wouldn't!"

"Why do you doubt it? I am not moved by pity, or empathy."

I pause, and add: "Or your looks. So do not waste any effort onthat, either."

Sauron stares at me again, his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Shifts restlessly.

"So, you think me ugly?", he says, finally, and I scowl at him.

"We are not here to discuss this! For the last time- will youcooperate?"

Sauron gets up from his seat, and prowls around me, now, and comes upbehind me. I fight to control my anger- it is extraordinary for me tolose my temper!- I feel his long fingers dig lightly into myshoulders, and I shiver at his touch.

`Sit down, Sauron. I am warning you…"

His scent- is like- some unknown flower, earthy and sweet, and yetsomehow cloying.

Burnt roses, fire kissed petals...

The fingers dig in, more, as he slips one hand inside the front of myrobe – my judicial, official robe!- and I stand up quickly, and turnto face him.

"Perhaps I was mistaken- perhaps you are not sane! What do you thinkyou are doing?"

That insolent smile!

"Answer me! You are one moment away from my wrath, I am not playingthis game..."

Perhaps madness is contagious, for I allow it for one moment too long-

-just enough to feel the silky-smooth tongue he vulgarly pushes intomy mouth, just enough to taste him, wild strawberries and cream,mingled with smoke and flame…

"Cease!" I roar at him, and thrust him away from me.

"This is a very dangerous game, Sauron. I advise you to stop, ere itbe too late."

He smiles, endlessly smiling, and turns from me, and walks to thedoor, as if to leave!

"Where do you think you are going!?"

"Away. Home. I am going home, Námo. I am beginning to tire of this,myself. I find this place horribly tedious. But it was entertainingfor awhile, and--"

But the spiteful and foolish words are cut off, as I fall on him andshove him against the wall.

"A fool you were, and still are, I see! Very well, I shall give yousomething else to dwell upon, besides your own pitiful ego!"

I drag him- now crying like a child- and kicking me like one, as well-to the chamber where I make my displeasure known to the otherunhappy rebels in Mandos.

No, I do not actually torture anyone.

There are painless ways of instilling dread and forcing respect.

I make tethers and hoist him up, head down, just as I threatened todo.

O, the tears, the pleas, now, that he takes this a little moreseriously!

"You must know, Sauron the Unwise, that I am not moved by this. Thinknow, on your behavior and your flippant attitude, and I shall returnfor you when it pleases me to do so!"

I close the chamber door on his shrieking.

I do not actually leave him very long.

But it must have seemed an eternity to him, for when I return againhe is no longer screaming, only sobbing, slowly spinning around inhis uncomfortable position.

Was it enough?

"Well?"

He looks at me and weeps.

"May we have a discussion with due respect, now? Can you manage that?"

He nods quickly, the sobs becoming softer.

I cut him down, and let him fall in a heap on the ground- my lastreprimand is to let him hit the ground hard.

He moans, and slowly sits up.

"Námo..I see you hate me..everyone hates me, now." He buries hispretty face in his hands and weeps.

I am about to sternly warn him yet again, when I realize that thistime, it is no game.

Have I reached him? Made him take this with the gravity it deserves?

I kneel beside him.

"Listen to me...I do not hate you, nor do the other Valar. I amcertain you are not missed on Arda, but we do not hate you. We..westill care about you- if that were not the case- you would not evenbe here! But what you have done calls for retribution, and I wouldsee you change your ways, and your heart, and your way of thinking.That is why you are here. That is why I must be very severe with you,if you insist on that."

The cobalt blue eyes, so rimmed with red- not of fire but of grief-turn to me again, and I feel something I have not felt since Luthien:pity.

I reach for him and gently touch his face, seeking to console him,although the very act is a foreign one to me.

And he dissolves into my arms, weightlessly, and I feel anotherstirring, even more foreign.

"I do not mean to be evil, Námo, I have known no other way for solong..."

His robe opens yet again, as he leans back into my arms, and I catcha very unwanted glimpse of his stomach, muscular yet somehow soft,fragile strength. Pale, so pale..

He is making me uneasy, now.

//I want to see more...open that crimson robe up again, let me seeall of you..//

Shocked and horrified at what I suddenly know to be desire, I try tountangle myself from him, to get up.

He clutches me, unwilling to free me.

"You asked me if I was frightened..yes, I am frightened, very much.Is that what you want to hear?"

"No…I simply want the truth..."

"*This* is the truth.."

And that sweet mouth finds me again, honey and cream and muskymaleness, and I lose myself in it this time, all the while appalled.

Without breaking the illicit kiss, he pulls me down onto him, withthe grace of someone who has done this many times.

"I cannot...I must not!..." I protest, as my hands work to pull offthe hated robe from his spirit-body. Freed from its thrall, he liesexposed to me, looking at me with eyes full of wonder.

"Námo…"

"Do not speak. Do not even whisper..."

I descend onto him, safe in the knowledge that we shall not bedisturbed- no one comes here of their own free will…

Artful and coy, he lifts long legs around my back, making no pretenseof his own intentions.

My little foul-minded and sharp-tongued prisoner, writhing under me,affecting me in a way that I cannot bear...he has stirred the darkand sleeping waters..does he realize there is no return from this?

Sweet, sweet, filthy-foul, a wickedness to every thrash of thosehips, every groan, every time he moans my name...

I am so degraded, so defeated.

"Oh Námo! My love, my lover..."

For those beings who deal with- and feel- their emotions normally,this would not have the profound effect that it is having on me. Butfor me, these feelings and sensations- even simply being excited inthis way- are alien and very new things, and it has a deep impact.

It does something to me.

I seize him with savage desire, and embrace him with a mightypassion, tasting his throat, licking him.

"Sauron..."

He does not answer, only bucking up against me, howling like thevicious animal he is.

The pleasure unleashes in stages, one after another, and thensuddenly the tides roar in, and I find myself nearly howling myself,out of my mind with it.

Spent, shivering, I want to make it come for him as well, and withall my Will I surge into him repeatedly, determined to stay firmenough to satisfy him as well.

The vigorous hammering has the desired effect, and his whole bodyarches backwards, as a piercing scream tears out of him- his insidesspasm tightly, and for a long moment he seizes in place, now silent.

And then...sinks down, with a shuddering sigh.

It feels like an Age...but at length, I speak.

"O Sauron, Fire and Ice. I shall make your days here a joy, I have nomore heart to punish you. You sought to make me love you- and I fearyou have prevailed."

He looks at me at first with a smile, and then without.

"Námo..? What do you speak of..?"

"We shall be happy here, you and I. And I shall find a way to reformyou, cure you of your evil. We have time. So much time."

I take his hand, now cold and shaking.

"Do not fear, I will never speak angrily to you again, or reprimandyou, or frighten you. I love you, Flame of Aule."

His eyes have opened so wide, if I knew not better, surely it wouldbe horror I see in the vivid blue!

But I know better, of course.

I smile at him, an unaccustomed thing, yet again.

"Always, you shall stay with me, beautiful Maia. You shall never knowfear, or pain, or need again. Always, we shall be together."

Was Námo...*torturing* Sauron? It could not be- he never did suchthings.

That was not allowed, he had been very clear on that!

This was a last effort to save the fallen Maia's soul, and harminghim would only drive him even farther away.

And then, he saw a vision in his far-reaching sight, and he relaxed.

All was well.

Sauron and Námo were lying in an embrace, entwined together,seemingly calm.

Manwe smiled.

Love, then.

It was well.

FIN...

***Watch out what you wish for...even in deception.

This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.

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